


Everlastingly Perennial

by tamantha



Category: Eddsworld - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Flower AU, M/M, Slow Burn, also matt is a wonderful ray of sunshine that needs to be STOPPED, tom tries and fails to repress his gay feelings, updating the tags as the story goes on
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-29
Updated: 2018-10-08
Packaged: 2019-05-30 07:38:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,845
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15092174
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tamantha/pseuds/tamantha
Summary: Tom preferred not to listen to his own mind when sober, especially when it kept trying to convince him he was in love with Matt. If it hadn't been for the flower buds on his arm though, he just might have gotten away with forgetting about the first time this had happened...[Indefinite Hiatus]





	1. Of Trials, Tribulations, and Textbooks

**Author's Note:**

> howdy eddsworld tag, im actually writing new stuff lmao  
> this fic is mostly inspired by [this](https://transgayshou.tumblr.com/post/171955961423/i-actually-fucking-love-flower-aesthetic-things) tumblr post  
> i apologize beforehand for the clunky start but goddamnit i just want these boys to be happy, whether because fate said so or not  
> plz comment i would actually sell my soul to you if you did........................

__ _ Long ago, when gods and deities of indescribable power roamed the Earth, upon a quiet, grassy mountainside by the sea, surrounded by a dark forest as long as the eye could see, was a large trading district. Many people traveled to the seaside town, to offer gold, silver, or more precious gemstones than most people in the present could comprehend. At the heart of it all, was a wealthy family. They had traversed the thick wood, crawling with hundreds of massive beasts and poisonous plants, generations ago, and this seaside trading post was the reward for their journey. The founding family made good use of the fertile land and rich bay surrounding their paradise.  _

_     By the time of our story, the descendants of the travelers had inherited the large wealth given to them by their predecessors, and the next generation was growing of age. Though the bloodline had always been dominated by men, there were many daughters this time around. Five to be exact. However, amongst the troop of young ladies, there was a son. The son’s name was Matthaios. Matthaios’ sisters had all either been married off, or were betrothed by the time he came of age. The young man was the only heir to his family who had not found any luck seeking a spouse.  _

_     Matthaios spent half of his morning simply brushing his hair out and cleaning his face, trying to seem desirable. The rest of the morning he browsed the flower shops, trying to woo any ladies that would pass by him. Some had spared him a curious glance, but many of the regulars scoffed and rolled their eyes at his desperation. Though he quickly grew tired of the pollen and flowery smells filling his nose, Matthaios always purchased a single, blue violet, adding it to a bouquet at home that he would give to his future beloved some day. Afterward, the young man continued on in his quest, eventually meandering his way to the local bar to drink his worries away until the end of the night. _

_     One night, the ocean sent a deep shroud of mist into the town. Along with it, a witch, cloaked in an enchanted cape slipped between the alleys, into the bar. Matthaios sat upon a stool at the front of the bar, his head in his arms. As the woman sauntered over to the morose boy, he seemed to pick his head up almost instantly, locking gazes with her. She shook her hood off, a pair of deep, blue eyes and pearly, white teeth smirked at him, motioning for him to stand. Matthaios stood, taking in the beauty of the woman before him for only a few moments. As soon as she appeared, the witch turned heel and strode toward the exit, never turning to see if Matthaios was following. Nearly tripping over his own feet, the boy followed the cloaked woman. The young man seemed to be in an unbreakable trance, only paying mind to any obstacles between him and the cloaked figure leading him out of the bar. Matthaios stumbled his way after the lady, the streets and alleyways of the town whizzing past him. After only a few minutes, the reverie Matthaios seemed to be under broke. He found himself out in the middle of the deep forest surrounding the city. _

_     The boy asked the stranger before him, why was he here? Who are you? The woman simply chuckled knowingly in reply. She stated that Matthaios has been much too comfortable in his desperate search for a woman. That he needed to realize that how much he enjoyed himself and his status was unhealthy. The boy needed to feel how others felt, and learn what other lives were like before he could throw himself off into marriage. Of course, all of this flew over Matthaios’ naive head, as he demanded to be taken back to his home.  _

_     The witch scoffed. If Matthaios was going to be so rude as he was, he would have to learn his lesson out here. She would be back in one month, and if the boy had not learned his lesson by then, she would find someone much more powerful than her to teach him themself. If he was alive by then, that is. With that, the lady whipped around and stalked off, leaving Matthaios in a confused stupor. After a long while, the young man came to his senses, realizing just how much danger he was in. Panic set in quickly. After nearly an hour or two of running around, screaming for help, the tipsy man swiftly fell. And hit his head on a rock. And fainted.  _

_     Matthaios woke in a bed of brilliant red and yellow flowers, ones he had heard the women at the flower shop call “everlasting flowers.” He sat up, wide eyes scanning the rest of his surroundings. A clearing surrounded him, a thick ray of sunlight illuminating the young man’s resting place. Matthaios nearly fell back asleep from the warmth, but his comfort was interrupted by a sharp jab of cold steel against the back of his neck. A sharp yelp left his mouth, whirling around to face what was behind him. _

_     A boy, likely only a year or two younger than Matthaios himself stood, calmly pointing what looked to be a hand-crafted spear at the young noble’s neck. Matthaios would have simply assumed this was a nomad, or maybe even a servant out hunting, if it had not been for the distinct lack of eyes the boy had. Whether it had been some large predator, or something much, much more powerful, all that remained where there should have been eyes was two dark cavities, surrounded by long healed scars. The man didn’t even know how this boy was threatening him, given his lack of eyes, but it seemed that every time he shrunk back, the stranger would simply point his spear closer. _

_     Why was Matthaios here? The boy in question yelped at the sharp demand, stating that he’d tell the man if he’d just put that thing down! The eyeless stranger hesitated, a conflicted expression making its way to his face, before begrudgingly lowered his weapon, waiting for a response. The young heir recounted all of the events that he could remember from the night before, pleading to the other to not hurt him. He had to get back home and find someone to be wed to!  _

_     The other boy sighed tiredly, shrugging. Matthaios probably wouldn’t be able to get home too easily. The closest town was miles away. As a distraught look crossed the nobleman’s face, the eyeless boy offered a hand. He helped Matthaios onto his feet, bluntly stating that he would probably perish if he were all alone in these woods. He introduced himself as Toma, and that if Matthaios wanted his help, he’d have to quit being so loud, it’ll scare away the food.  _

_     The two spent much of their time together after that. Toma lead the heir to his home, a simplistic camp underneath a thick grove of vines and birch trees. The same flowers, everlastings, grew here as well. Matthaios was quick to make himself right at home. By the time night fell once more, the young man had completely forgotten all about the incident from the night before, and all about the month he would be spending out in the wilderness.  _

_     Before long, the two boys were no longer strangers to each other. They became simple acquaintances, and then friends. Their friendship quickly built into an unbreakable bond, one that not even the gods had witnessed between mortals before, as they spent nearly every waking moment with the other. Whether it was collecting berries, grasses and bark, or hunting for prey for the approaching night, the heir and the hunter were inseparable. This would have gone on until the end of their lives, if the month the strange woman had promised had not come to an end. _

_     On the day marking the end of Matthaios’ month in the wilderness, a storm blew over the forest, followed by thunder and sparks of lightning arcing from cloud to cloud. The pair while on route to their home were stopped dead in their tracks, the woman standing in front of them. The month was up. Had Matthaios learned what he had been tasked with? The deep blue gaze of the woman flickered from the boy in question to his companion, who had drawn his weapon quickly, wanting to defend his partner.  _

_     Matthaios, who was this? What did she want with you? Toma demanded. The heir sputtered out what had happened, reminding the eyeless boy of how they had met. This was the witch, huh? Well, no matter what lesson Matthaios had to learn, she’d have to get through him to find out what it was.  _

_     The woman paused, a smooth, pale hand brushing her chin in thought. It seemed that Matthaios had found what she had sent him to look for. He took his eyeless companion’s thoughts, feelings, and interests into account, and truly desired to make him happy. He was ready to go back. _

_     What? Go back? Matthaios couldn’t go back! Toma was here! He had to stay with him!! He couldn’t just leave him out here all alone! The witch’s gaze felt as though it was boring holes into the two boys, looking over the pair. Matthaios had grown too dependant, it had seemed. She nodded vaguely, having made up her mind. _

_     A cold gust of wind swept into the wood. With it, thousands of flowers flooded up the pathway, buffeting the pair. After a few moments, the wave of flora ceased. In its wake, hundreds of miniature, sealed flower buds drifted through the air weightlessly. The woman snapped her fingers, and the sky lit up with hundreds of bolts of lightning, temporarily blinding the two. Once the lights had faded, a strange itch formed under the skin of the two. Suddenly, upon the back of Matthaios’ neck and Toma’s left arm, tons of tiny buds burst from their flesh, painfully blooming. Hundreds of colors flooded out of the tiny buds, nearly glowing in the darkness as the gazes of the two boys met. The emergence lasted only moments, however. The woman darted forward, snatching Matthaios by the arm and dragging him away. As the two parted, the buds closed once more. _

_     The witch and her unwilling patron halted at the edge of the forest, out on a rocky cliff. If Matthaios truly cared for Toma, he would seek him out once more, this time on his own. When the couple reunited a second time, the flowers would blossom once more. With that grave statement, the woman turned once more, this time to the sky. She rose into the air, dragging Matthaios with her. The heir flew up, up, and away into the clouds, wailing fruitlessly as the forest below him, as well as his companion. A flash of lightning crackled around them, and Matthaios fell unconscious.  _

_     When he awoke, the the young heir had returned to his home, and was in his bed. He rolled over, facing the beautiful bouquet of blue violets atop his bedside table. His journey to find a spouse in his hometown had ended. Matthaios sat up, rubbing at the buds sprouting from his own body no longer wistfully, but with newfound determination. His next journey was to find the second half of his soul. The boy who who was truly deserving of the bouquet he had spent so long arranging was out there, somewhere. All that was left was for Matthaios to find him... _

 

* * *

 

Tom was snapped out of his reverie as the bell ending third hour rang. He shut the copy of  _ Man, Myths and Legends  _ in his hands and shook his head, sliding it back into his bookbag. What a cheesy story. Whoever wrote it must’ve been a sucker for cliche romance stuff. Hah, they probably watched chick flicks too. He stood up out of his seat, stretching as the teacher droned on about the informative essay due next week. Students filed out of the room, rushing to fourth hour, Tom not too far behind. On the walk to his locker, Tom bumped into Edd, the brunette grinning at the sight of his inky-eyed friend. 

“So! How was English, hmm?” Edd inquired, hugging his notebooks and textbook for fourth hour close to his chest.

“Eh, boring as usual,” Tom replied. He stuck his arm into the whirlwind of papers, books, binders, and whatever else lurked in the depths of his locker, searching for his Biology textbook. “We got the mythology essay you told me about earlier,” he stated. 

“Ooh! Which story did you get?” Edd nudged his friend in interest. Tom shut his locker, having found the book he needed. 

“It’s just the one about the flower stuff. I was hoping for something about, like, the pyramids or meteors or something,” Tom revealed dejectedly. “Pretty damn boring if you ask me.”

“Hah, I think Tord got one about aliens or some shit like that, maybe you could pester him to trade with you?” The artist teased. As if that was going to ever happen. 

“Oh get real, Edd. Edgelord McGee would be too busy reading his shitty manga to give me that much attention.” Tom chuckled, imagining Tord’s face buried in some manga with a big-boobied girl on the cover, ignoring Tom. That kid had issues. Edd laughed along, gently punching Tom’s shoulder.

“Well, I’ve gotta get to Math early. Matt needs to copy down my homework.” The spiky haired boy glanced up at the mention of their friend. 

“Did he forget about it  _ again _ ?” Tom cackled at Edd’s misfortune.

“Mmhm. Man, I’ve gotta find someone smarter he can bother for shit like that,” the latter whined. The dark-eyed boy snickered, patting his peer’s shoulder in mock pity. 

“Well, see you guys at lunch?” the boy questioned.

“Yup! Wish me luck with Matt,” Edd wheezed.

“We hang out with him  _ every _ day, Edd. You’ll make it out alive.” The taller boy grinned and sent a mock-salute as he made his way to fourth hour. Tom laughed to himself and sighed, rubbing at the buds covering his left arm. Hopefully he’d survive too…


	2. Of Brawls, Balloons, and Bushbabies

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> aaaaand here's chapter 2! sorry this took so long! there won't be as much of a gap between this and chapter 3, i promise you that ;u;  
> anyways enjoy watching tom struggle with his highschool crush on the dumbest man on earth

    “Goddamnit, Edd,” Tom growled, tapping frantically at his controller in vain. The man to his right cackled, watching the tiny Falco fly off to the side of the screen and explode into red light.

    “Better watch your back Tom,” the artist teased in a singsong manner. “You’re a stock away from losing,” the clicking from Tom’s controller increased, “again.”

    “Yeah, only cause you play dirty,” the eyeless man replied, nudging Edd in the side. The latter gently kicked Tom in the leg in response, issuing an, “ _Exactly_ what I meant, Edd,” back.

    “You’re just terrible at paying attention to the TV, it’s not _all_ my fault!” The bassist simply jabbed his friend in the side once more before focusing back in on the screen, only to catch Luigi flinging Falco to the back of the map once more. The announcer shouted, signaling the end of the third game the two had been playing.

    Tom chucked his controller down onto the carpet before promptly crossing his arms and shoving himself back into the couch, a pout evident on his face. Stupid Edd and his stupid skills with Luigi… Edd chuckled, shooting a shit-eating grin back at his friend. The cola-addict had always been fairly skilled at video games, especially most fighting games. Smash Bros. was no exception.

    He’d always been quite gifted at thinking fast in tight situations, whether with a controller in his hands or in real life, a trait Tom envied quite a lot. It made sense why Edd was the ‘leader’ of their little troupe, though. No matter how much the three, and at one point four, boys bickered and pulled petty stunts, it had been Edd who kept them together and on their toes. Though, that didn’t stop him from losing his temper after a while as well. The only two occasions for that event were the often destructive feuds between Tom and their previous housemate, and the third member of their crew, who was probably the most skilled at pissing their green hooded friend off.

    “And hey, at least I’m not Matt! He either dies right off the bat, or wipes you out with only one stock left,” Edd added, his previous grin having morphed into a tired grimace. Tom shuddered at the thought of facing their blue eyed friend in Smash. King Dedede wasn’t even that good of a character in Tom’s eyes (or lack thereof), and yet Matt could destroy the two of them with him if he truly put the effort into it.

    “Hey, speaking of which, where is Ma-”  
    “Hey guys! Guess what I got from the store!!” Ah. There he was. The ginger pranced into the living room, nearly tripping over his own feet as he carried two large sacks of groceries. Well, hopefully groceries. Knowing Matt, it could be literally everything _except_ for what they needed at the house… The men on the couch rolled their eyes- well, one went through the motions, but it wasn’t really visible. You get it.

    Edd sighed. “Oh boy, what could this possibly be,” he sarcastically wondered aloud.

    “Oh, I am _very_ glad you asked, Edd,” Matt replied excitedly, the snark of his housemate’s words flying right over his head and soaring out the window. “See, while I was out at the store, I realized something!” Matt set the sacks down onto the coffee table by the sofa, pulling out a bag of latex balloons. Oh boy. The redhead darted over to the couch, standing directly in front of the TV before his friends and began to jabber on about how the limp little pieces of rubber inside the plastic he held were actually balloons. Tom sighed quietly, there went any chance of settling the score in Smash, huh... He began to tune out Matt’s chattering, which would likely last for as long as Edd would put up with the former’s obnoxious rambling.

    When Matt wanted attention from the others, he made sure he got it. Well, he made sure until he forgot he even wanted attention in the first place, due to a constant lack of both an attention span, and retaining his memories. Just a few months back, their aforementioned housemate, Tord, had left Matt with a one of a kind, handcrafted memory eraser gun as a parting gift when the norski departed from their home. Which the latter promptly used on himself. Wonderful.

    Matt’s whole life, excluding basics such as speech and knowledge gained from school,  was gone as soon as the gun went off. The remaining two men had originally assumed that the memories of their companion were erased for good. After only a few weeks of constant reminders of their names however, a few childhood memories that the three had shared randomly resurfaced. As time passed, Matt began to recall his past bit by bit. This would have been all fine and dandy, if it hadn’t been that the progress he was making was incredibly slow. Tom figured that by the time Matt’s memories were caught up to the day that they were lost, the boys would probably be in their mid thirties, probably doing cool futuristic stuff. Despite these hopeful speculations of the future however, Matt was still dumber than a doornail. Speaking of Matt, wasn’t he bothering the two men seated at the couch or something..?

    “What do you think, Tom?” Shit. Fuck. Why did he think spacing out would be a good idea right about now… Matt would always drag the alcoholic into his absurd conversations after a while. It seemed like it almost brought him joy to do it.

    “What was the question..?” he idly inquired. “What do you thi-”

    “Yeah, I got that part, Matt. What do I think about _what_?” Tom needed a drink.

    “Do you think butterflies have feelings?” Yep, a drink was definitely on the bassist’s menu. It would be a miracle if Tom could even escape to grab one, though. Matt scurried over next to Tom, sitting down in Edd’s spo- damnit. Edd ditched him in the heat of the moment, the sneaky bastard. Tom would have to get him back later. He had a needy ginger to deal with.

    It would be easy to assume that the lack of intelligence, as well as clinginess, on Matt’s part was from the memory wipe, but that belief would be false. Matt always presented himself as quite dense, even before the incident. This, of course, meant that Edd and Tom were constantly subject to what felt like arguments with a four year old.

    It would also be quite easy to assume that the shorter man of the trio was the one whose nerves Matt got on the most. Edd was actually the most irritated at the blue eyed man’s antics. Though, this might just be because of their long running bout of pettiness. Honestly, at this point Tom considered it worse than his arguments with Tord. He wasn’t quite sure if Matt had caught on to Edd’s own sentiments about their friendship, but it was clear some kind of passive aggressive war was raging between the two, especially considering how eager the ginger was to shove his way into whatever the other two were doing.

    At this point? Tom was used to it. Tom had been used to how Matt acted for a long, long time. Ever since the two had been around the age of 5 or 6, it seemed their paths always crossed. First it had been the same homeroom classes in primary school, and then the same friends in secondary. Tom, the smart kid who just wanted out of the highly social environment, always seemed to be paired up with Matt, the dumb kid who cared too much about his reputation. Fate must have had a spare pair of handcuffs when the duo first met, because after that, the time the two boys had spent together felt indefinite.

    It wasn’t just fate that seemed to be scheming against the poor alcoholic, either. Tom couldn’t even count how many times Edd and Tord would run off to cause some kind of mayhem, leaving him with the fourth boy. By the time they were all around 15 and 16, Tom swore he had to be going insane somehow. No matter where he went, he just couldn’t get away from the ginger. Him and his stupid collections of rocks and toys, his stupid airheaded personality, his dumb blue eyes, his stupid cute fa-

    Oh hell no, Tom was not going recall _that_ part of his highschool years. He wouldn’t let himself get lost in that rabbithole of confusing feelings and teenage hormones. He was 25, for Christ’s sake. Not some emotional, drunk college girl. Though, the drunk part didn’t sound that bad… Wait shit Matt was waiting for a response, wasn’t he.

    “Uh... Probably..?” Tom tried. Why the hell would butterflies have feelings..?

    “Oh, thank goodness! At least _you_ have some sense, Tom,” Matt gushed. “The guy at the grocery store had absolutely _no_ idea what he was talking about!”

    “Huh.”

    “Yeah! He kept going on about how ‘bugs don’t have brains.’ Well of _course_ they don’t! That’s where they keep their feelings! Duh!” Tom simply stared at the redhead.

    “Yeah… sure.” Matt flashed a toothy grin at Tom, his eagerness radiating out of nearly every sliver of his being.

    “Oh, and I’ve just _got_ to show you what else I got at the store!” The blue-eyed man snatched a little plushie of… some kind of lemur looking animal from the bag.

    “...What is th-”

    “It’s a bushbaby!” Matt squeaked, hugging the little stuffie close. “Isn’t he just _adorable_???” Jeez, this reminded Tom of last month, when the redhead had made the decision to purchase every dog plushie he could find at the grocery store. Needless to say, there were a lot more than Tom had expected to be at the damn grocery store. And then there was that one time that Matt had spent all of the money they had given him trying to get one of those little animal-themed erasers in capsules out of a claw machine. As Tom recalled all of these.. quite obnoxious past occasions, the man beside him began to retell his entire journey to the store that morning.

    Oh lord, was Matt always.. like that.. when he rambled..? The blue eyed man reached up and brushed a lock of hair behind his ear, smiling blissfully down at the plushie in his other hand as he spoke. He seemed to be lost in his own little world. Well, except for when he would turn his attention into Tom’s deep, dark abysses of eyes.

    Though it was easier to find a needle in a haystack than to tell which direction Tom’s gaze was pointed, whenever Matt would stare into the bassist’s eyes, the latter couldn’t help but stare back. Even if it only lasted for a split second, the man’s attention never left Matt’s face, even after his rambling dragged the blue-eyed man’s attention elsewhere.

    Tom’s unseen stare began to drift just a bit, down to his friend’s cheeks. Upon the ginger’s pale skin sat a myriad amount of little freckles. The pale coral dust spanned from the corners of Matt’s eyes, wrinkled from the grin he wore, to the top of the bridge of his nose, covering everything in between. Below that, it seemed the fascinating little specks ranged down past his jawline, dispersing as they stretched further down onto his thin neck. How the hell had this evaded Tom before now..? Had he just been too annoyed by the incessant pestering and pointless questions to just take a look?

    No matter what the reason was, the blue clad man had been missing out on a lot. Somehow it had just barely slipped under his radar how.. actually alright looking Matt was..? That, and the fact that said man was still talking to him. Shit. Tom really needed to figure out how to quit spacing out while Matt was talking to him. He quickly listened in to the tail end of whatever statement the ginger was making.

    “... so I said, ‘Why not buy both and whichever one I don’t end up using, I can just give it to Edd!’” the man was explaining. Tom interjected quickly.

    “Hey uh, speaking of which, where did Edd go?” Hah, nailed it.

    “Hm? Oh, I think he said something about feeding the cat,” Matt said, digging into the paper bag in front of him. “I wish he’d get _me_ something to eat! All this talking has got me starved!”

    Tom smirked a little. “Why not make him? He’s probably already in the kitchen, anyhow,” he offered. Sorry Edd, but you had this coming for all those wins in Smash. It’s only fair.

    “Ooh! Excellent idea, Tom! You always have the best ideas,” Matt gushed, grinning down at the other as he stood from his seat.

    “Uh, not really, but thanks,” the eyeless man replied, recalling the countless escapades the trio (and sometimes quartet) had gone on, simply because of his dumb ideas alone. The taller man didn’t even bother to reply, before bounding off into the kitchen in search of their cola loving friend.

    Tom glanced down to the couch, only to find that Matt had left the plushie he was showing off earlier right next to Tom. What was it called again..? A shrub baby? Eh, it didn’t matter. He plucked the little guy off of the sofa, examining it closely. Where did Matt even find this thing at the grocery store? It wasn’t anything like most stuffed animals, the ginger had to have dug deep into the kids section to find it. The fuzzy toy stared up at Tom with huge, plastic eyes, its little cotton ears perked to attention. Well, wherever Matt found it, it shared plenty of traits with him. It had bright eyes, it had a weirdly shaped head (though that might have been from the fact it was a stuffed animal) with a happy expression on its face, and it was pretty cu-

    Oookay nope, no more of that. Tom had spent enough of his day thinking about his ditsy housemate to last him for a lifetime. He shuffled to his feet, wandering out of the living room, down the hall to his room. Thinking time was over, and drinking time was just around the corner.


	3. Of Awkwardness, Apnea, and Arrangements

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for the sudden disappearance folks! school started up for me around the end of august and ive honestly lost a lot of interest in eddsworld.. im not sure i can say when i'll get back into it, most likely when the new episodes drop, but i'm not gonna say this fic is discontinued just yet! that being said, here's chap 3 for anyone possibly still waiting for it!

“I expect the assignment you all turn in tomorrow to not only be completed in its entirety, but with the notes that  _ everyone _ was required to take today stapled to the back as well.”

Five minutes till lunch. Just five more minutes of the most boring teacher at this damn school. Tom could do this. The middle aged woman at the front of the classroom had just passed out the assignment for that day’s lesson. The class had just begun their unit on the human anatomy. Tom stared down at the paper before him uninterestedly before quickly looking up at the clock. Four minutes.

This had to be the longest, most unbearable wait Tom had ever sat through in his fifteen years of life. It wasn’t even like there was much waiting for him at the lunch table. He’d probably get there and help Edd bother Tord for a few minutes, before Matt would pop up out of nowhere, fashionably late as usual. 

Oh yeah, that sounded a lot like Matt. He’d probably skitter over to their table, nearly tripping over his own feet and dropping his lunch tray. Then he would wobble down into a chair, greeting the three of them as he straightened his glasses. He’d start talking about some girl he was talking to earlier who  _ clearly  _ had the hots for him, and Edd’s claims of Matt being a virgin at 20 were totally unreasonable. All the while, Tom would simply listen and watch the ginger (or as Matt called it, ‘strawberry blonde’) chatter happily. And then, h-

The bell rang sharply, cutting off any more of the irrational thoughts spewing from Tom’s brain. The tiny buds lining the brunette’s arm sent a tingle through his arm as he stood up from his seat, grabbing the textbooks and papers perched at the corner of the desk. He swiftly made his way to the door, slipping into the relentless wave of students rushing to either their lockers or the cafeteria. 

Tom shifted through the rush of sweat and drama, wiggling his way between a wall and a crowd of girls talking amongst each other excitedly. Thank God his locker wasn’t far from the Biology classroom. A minute or two to himself would help the boy rearrange his... unnatural.. thoughts. Tom didn’t dare speak to anyone about his perspective of the opposite sex. Most of his friends were constantly talking about hooking up with girls. Hell, there were some guys he’d spoken to before that didn’t seem to realize that girls were human too, seeing just how much they worshipped their peers. 

    On the contrary, it seemed that as the school year dragged on, Tom felt more and more alien compared to his male peers. He found it harder and harder to deny just how much he snuck peeks at the men’s health magazine covers at the supermarket, and how it became so much more clear what the main leads in chick flicks saw in their love interests. No matter how much he tried denying it, the teen was very well aware that he was not, in fact, heterosexual at all.

Now, if this part of the story was taking place in the present, Tom just might have been able to be open about his feelings and assumed identity. However, the current year of this chapter is somewhere between the late 90’s and the early 2000’s, so if Tom were to walk up to some random stranger in the middle of the hallway and say, “Hey! I think I like guys enough I wanna date ‘em!” he would likely either get pummeled into a measly little pulp of teenager, get called a wide variety of names, that the author of this fanfiction would prefer not to provide written examples of, or any combination of the former and the latter. 

Anyways, where were we? Oh yeah, lunch time. Tom popped open his locker, shoving the Bio textbook into the pile of books and papers at the bottom of his locker, and sliding the assignment into the top shelf. The boy’s locker might have looked like absolute hell, but Tom truly did care about keeping his grades up. He truly was an intelligent kid, ending up in the school’s honors program ever since primary school. Of course, this didn’t much help his already pretty mediocre social status in secondary school. Edd and himself were pretty edgy for 12th years.

Regardless of the ever looming threat of hot-headed rugby players and prissy, self-centered girls, Tom was pretty satisfied with his life. Sure, he wore black t-shirts with skulls and metal bands’ names printed on the front, but the boy wasn’t too depressed with or angry at the world. He could probably thank his mother for that. After Tom’s father passed away from, what the boy called “The Accident,” and his funeral was held, the boy and his mother were much more willing to communicate. Sure, the family would have the occasional argument, simply spurred on by teenage hormones and protective tendencies, but no ill will was ever held between the two. This made itself very clear with the simple sack lunches Tom would bring to school every day. The bags would usually contain something simple, such as a sandwich and chips, or leftovers from the previous night, but the teen couldn’t bring himself to tell her to quit. Who could? Her cooking was damn good. 

“Tom.” Fucking hell that scared the shit out of him. The teen in question huffed dramatically, turning to the boy behind him with as much of a glare as his eyeless mug could muster. 

    Tord stood just shy of the rush of students behind the two, staring disinterestedly at Tom.

    “Where’s Edd,” the pale boy demanded. He wore his signature black trenchcoat, and carried with him what appeared to be some notebooks and two books that appeared to be manga. 

“Uh, why do you need to know?” Tom shut his locker, raising an eyebrow at the order. 

“None of your business,” Tord spat, hunching his shoulders and hugging his books closer. The eyeless boy sighed and shook his head.

“Whatever, man. He’s probably just at the lunch table already” Why the hell was he so worried about where their friend would be? The four of them always met up at lunch. Why would today be any different?

The norse teen huffed, “I guess so.” Tom sighed, getting tired of having to interact with this particular peer of his.

“Alright, I answered your question, dude. Can you lay off the brooding and go be edgy wherever you’re headed?”

“We’re going to the same place.” Goddamnit. Well, you couldn’t tell the creepy, foreign emo kid to piss off and expect to succeed with no complications. Tom groaned and crossed his arms, and admitted defeat.

“Fuckin’... fine…” he muttered. “Just don’t act like you’re with me or something.” Tord merely replied with a noncommittal grunt. 

The two teens shuffled into the cafeteria, and sure enough, their friend was already seated at the usual table. Despite the messy lock of brown hair covering his eyes, there was an apparent scowl on the rest of Edd’s face. Tom quickened his pace, speedily hopping into one of the chairs across from the taller teen. Tord simply continued walking to the front of the room, getting in line for the food being served by a couple of old ladies.

    “What’s got you so pissed off, dude? Did Matt  _ ruin _ fourth hour or something?” The closer Tom looked, the clearer it was that something had happened that riled the artist up quite a bit. Not much seemed to anger the brunette, (Well, his emotions weren’t exactly broadcasted to the world to see thanks to his choice of hairstyle-), but when Edd was pissed, Edd was  _ damn _ pissed.

    “Mhm,” the boy growled. He straightened up, inhaling deeply and angrily staring down at the notebook strewn out in front of him through the curly locks of brown covering his eyes. Oh boy, this would be a story for sure. The shorter teen opened his bookbag, fishing out a small paper bag. If Edd was gonna go off on an angry rant, Tom might as well eat his lunch during it.

    “Alright, first off, Matt didn’t even bother bringing in his homework, so he ended up making a fool out of himself in front of the entire class!” Holy tuna-fish on a tricycle, Edd was  _ mad _ . He was also still angrily ranting, uttering out something about the blame being pushed to said boy, but it seemed Tom was much too invested in staring at the table in front of him to put in any effort to listen. 

    Well, staring at the table and thinking about a certain person. A boy to be specific. A very, very handsome boy who- Oh who was he kidding, it was Matt. It seemed that as Tom’s… “strange” thoughts grew more and more persistent the longer he spent thinking about the blue eyed boy. At first, all he seemed to be to the eyeless boy was one of his dumb friends, Specifically one he’d known much longer than the other two. Maybe that explained why one day he became  _ alright _ instead of just dumb? Or maybe when alright turned into  _ nice _ , which shifted into  _ sweet _ , and  _ charming _ , and even  _ good looking _ and-

    Tord dropped his tray onto the table unceremoniously, snapping Tom out of his daze. Before the latter could get on the former’s case for startling him, the eyeless boy, thankfully, caught the tail end of Edd’s recollection of the past hour.

    “And so Ms. Russell kept  _ both _ of us after to chew us out for what Matt did in the first place,” the teen spat, propping his head up on an arm. “I had to run my damn legs off to get here on time to eat!” Tord let out a pity filled chuckle, casting a consoling glance at his friend. 

    “Next year will be much better, don’t worry. Mr. Sommer doesn’t give a shit what you do in his class as long as you’re chill,” he offered. The norski had always been in the gifted program for math, a whole year ahead of the honors kids in the boys’ grade. The artist kicked Tord’s shin under the table.

    “Quit being so full of yourself for getting away from her so quick, ya weeb,” Edd growled, though in a much more optimistic manner than before. “With all the shit he’s pulled this year, I think Matt just might have convinced the old hag to keep him in her torture chamber for another year.”

    “Oh come on, I haven’t been  _ that _ terrible!” And there he was. The dreadful ly endearing ginger himself had finally made his way to the table. Edd sighed, turning to the boy who had taken a seat to his right.

    “Matt, you literally used the ‘dog ate my homework’ excuse on the  _ first day _ ,” the brunette remarked.

    “Yeah, so?”

    “Matt, you are allergic to dogs,” Tord quipped, a tired glare on his face.

    “Well, she doesn’t know that!” the bespectacled boy yelped defensively.

    “Yes, she does, Matt. The school has all of our medical conditions on file.” With that, the silver eyed boy whipped out a manga and toned whatever the irritating ginger across from him was about to respond with out.

    “Alright, enough about this jackass,” Edd snarked, lightly punching Matt in the arm. “I’ve heard plenty about him today. How was Bio, Tom?” Oh right. Tom was here. And he was a part of this conversation. Funny how you can forget that about yourself, huh?

    “Meh. Painful as usual. We’re doing a dumb worksheet where you have to fill in all the muscles in the body with only your notes as reference,” the boy stated plainly, setting aside the bag previously containing his sandwich, and fishing some chips out of his lunch bag. “It’s not too bad.” The boys across from him let out an exasperated gasp, and a sigh respectively.

    “Not too bad?!” Matt yelped in disbelief.

    “Tom, you’re the only person that takes notes in Bio that I know,” Edd stated to said teen, snickering under his breath at the ginger’s reaction.

    “Yeah, cause I actually give a shit about my grades, unlike you guys,” the dark-eyed boy replied, chuckling at his friends’ misfortune.

    “Only you, Tom, only you.” Edd returned his attention back to the notebook in front of him.

    “Hey, I care about my grades!” Matt claimed indignantly, crossing his arms and huffing to punctuate the cry. The only audible reply at first was a sniff from Tord, the rest of the table sitting there in silence. 

    “Really now, Matthew “I lost my science book the first day of ninth year” Reeves. You care about your grades?” the boy adjacent to the ginger inquired snarkily.  

    Whatever Matt had responded with was lost to the jumble of voices in the cafeteria. I mean, how could Tom pay attention to the story he was telling when he could just watch him talk? The shorter boy swore it wasn’t natural for someone to look just… this damn cute! Like, when Matt was rambling, every few seconds he would adjust his glasses, and when he got really angry, he would wave his arms around all frantically. Oh and his  _ voice _ … When he was really, really invested in what he was saying, it would go all high pitched and just absolutely  _ melt _ Tom’s heart… And his  _ eyes _ ! Sometimes when he was talking he would-

    A harsh clack to the left shocked the boy out of his infatuation-filled daze. One of Tord and Edd’s friends had taken a seat at the table. Uh.. Paul..? Yeah, this was Paul. The tall boy had settled down in a chair next to Tord.

    “Oh, hey, Paul!” Edd exclaimed. 

    “Ah, hi,” he mumbled. The scruffy teen was never much for conversation. He leaned over and nudged the boy to his right.

    “I finished volume one,” the teen reached back and pulled out said manga from his backpack, “could I borrow the next one?” Tord looked up from his reading and nodded, reaching into his own bag. He pulled out another manga.

    “Here.” Paul grinned and thanked the shorter boy, immediately cracking the book open and beginning to read. Tord flashed a rare, but very much real, smile and returned to his previous activity.

    “Ah, anyways,” Edd continued, “you guys wouldn’t believe what I convinced my mom to buy.” The brunette grinned excitedly.

    “And that is..?” Tom inquired. The artist’s smile shifted into a proud smirk. 

    “A Nintendo 64.” That elicited gasps from the other three. Not Paul, however. The kid was still pretty engrossed in his manga.

    “Bullshit,” Tord yelped quietly. “There’s no way you actually got her to buy it-”

    “Oh, but I did,” the tall boy cackled at the disbelief of his friends. “It’s gonna get here in the mail tomorrow night. You guys wanna come over this weekend to try it?” 

    “Oh hell yes!” Matt shouted exuberantly, practically flinging himself to the left and gripping Edd’s shoulder. “Is that even a question? Of course we’re gonna be there!” The ginger stared pointedly at the shorter boys across the table.

    Tord shrugged unsurely. “I’ll see if my dad will let me,” he stated.

    “Yeah, same here with mom. I might have to do some extra chores, you know how she is,” Tom stated sheepishly. Edd nodded in understanding.

    “How about you, Paul? You’re welcome to come too!” The boy glanced up at the mention of his name. He must’ve been listening while he read the book in front of him.

    “Ah, no thanks,” he mumbled politely. “Maybe another time.”

    “Awe, alright! If you change your mind, just let me know!” Edd shot him a cheerful grin, which the bushy-browed teen returned, though much less excitedly than the taller brunette.

    Almost as if it were on queue, the bell rang, signaling the end of lunch. The boys packed up their things, chattering happily amongst themselves. Tord and Edd departed first, headed to their shared fifth hour class. Paul trailed behind them quietly, face still all but pressed into the manga in his hands.

    That just left… Oh boy. Tom was all alone with Matt. The taller teen was wiping his glasses on his flannel’s collar, seemingly lost in thought. Shit, uh- Tom should probably say something before this gets awkward.

    “So, you ready for History?” Fucking hell that was horrible.

    “Hm? Oh, yeah!” Matt replied cheerily. “We uh, didn’t have homework, right?” He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. Tom couldn’t help but chuckle a bit at that. 

    “Nah, don’t worry,” he assured the blue-eyed boy. “We’ve got a sub, remember?”

    “Oh! Right!” The two trudged out of the cafeteria, side by side. The dark eyed boy would be lying if he said he was a bit flustered by how close he was to Matt. The ginger always tended to be pretty physically close with most of his friends, occasionally swinging his arm around the shoulder of whoever was right next to him. Which in this case was Tom. Oh boy. Matt yawned slightly, glancing back over to the eyeless boy beside him.

    “Thanks for not getting on my case like Edd did,” he said, a little grin on his face. “I really do appreciate it!”

    “Ah, it’s no problem, man..!” Tom mumbled, a bit shocked at the sudden kindness, especially from his damn crush of all people! The two arrived at their destination, stepping into the classroom begrudgingly. Sure, history wasn’t the worst class, but their substitute was pretty annoying. Plus, they had a damn  _ seating chart _ . One that put the two right next to each other, as well. The duo took a seat in their spots, and Tom opened his mouth to add on to his previous statement. Almost immediately, however, Matt turned around in his seat, starting up a conversation with a girl sitting nearby.

    Well, there went that nice moment. Tom sighed and crossed his arms, leaning back in his seat to stare up into the ceiling. Just three more hours, and the boy wouldn’t be dealing with any more inattentive, dorky, cute gingers. The thought mostly gave him relief. However, the flower buds covering the lovestruck boy’s arm twitched with sadness. 

    Three hours it would be, then.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> if yr reading this thank you for putting up with my loong ass absence lmao, for anyone interested, ive still got about half of chapter 4 written out, so that may drop when i have some free time this winter. for the much smaller group of ppl interested in my writing, im prob moving on to either osomatsu san stuff or splatoon stuff, so keep a lookout for that. see yall later (peace sign emoji)

**Author's Note:**

> ALSO THANK YOU @ MY BF FOR BETA-ING MOST OF THIS I LOVE YOU


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